Charges Land Pa. Pilot in Ohio Valley Hot Water

February 14, 2014

A commercial airline pilot was arrested on a federal charge of traveling across state lines in order to have sex with a 15-year-old Jefferson County girl.

U.S. Attorney William J. Ihlenfeld said Wednesday that Mustafa Momoun Bazbaz, 28, of Oakdale, Pa., was arrested and charged with travel with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.

Ihlenfeld said Bazbaz began communicating with the teen in December via an Internet website. It is alleged that Bazbaz misrepresented his age and name to the victim, claiming to be a 17 year-old-boy named "Mike B."

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The complaint alleges Bazbaz sent sexually explicit images of himself to the victim before arranging to pick her up near her home in December 2013. Bazbaz then allegedly took the victim to a hotel room in Hancock County where he engaged in sexual intercourse with her.

The matter is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hancock County Sheriff's Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert H. McWilliams Jr.

Ihlenfeld said Bazbaz faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Bazbaz is being held at the West Virginia Northern Regional Jail in Moundsville pending a detention hearing.